Linear pneumatic gripper

This invention concerns in general the pneumatic gripper sector used for gripping items being machined and/or for automatic handling, and refers in particular to a type of pneumatic gripper that has a pair of jaws which move linearly in opposite directions to open and close by means of a pneumatic control piston with single or double action.

The linear pneumatic grippers for the above use are well known, both as regards to how they are structured and how they function. They can differ in form, dimensions and capacity.

The type of pneumatic grippers taken into consideration in this case, basically comprise a body forming a chamber, a piston positioned and moving alternately in said chamber under the action of a fluid under pressure, and a pair of gripper jaws associated with said body and movable in opposite directions. The piston is connected to the jaws by means of operating levers, assembled by means of fulcrums or oscillation pins, so that the movements of the piston correspond to the linear movements of the jaws to open and close them.

However, the linear grippers known up to now are made up of several elements which are assembled also with the use of bolts and that for their combination they can be the cause of defects in the function of the gripper; in fact, possible dimension errors in the single components and/or the coupling tolerances may also considerably influence the precision and parallelism of the movement of the jaws.

Starting from this introduction, one object of the present invention is to avoid the above mentioned drawbacks and disadvantages, and therefore to provide a liner pneumatic gripper made up of a limited number of components and where some components have a dual function.

Another object of the invention is to provide a linear pneumatic gripper whose assembly does not require the use of bolts and where the fulcrums or pins of the drive levers help in forming a rigid and safe connection of the components forming the body of the gripper.

Said objects are achieved with a linear pneumatic gripper according to the preamble of claim 1, wherein the body comprises a base element in which a chamber is provided for the piston and which holds the oscillation drive levers on relative transverse pins, and a head associated with said body and with guide groove for the jaws, and wherein such a head is fixed to said base element by means of the same oscillation fulcrums or pins of said levers with a preset preload.

In this way the oscillation pins of the jaws have at the same time the additional function of connecting and blocking the components to form the gripper body and which can also be achieved using different materials, thus enabling a simpler and less expensive manufacture of the device.